Ralph Lawler is the unsinkable voice of the Clippers. Bingo.

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I have never appreciated Ralph Lawler more than I do now.

I once worked alongside Ralph as his radio color man and liked him and his sense of humor, but that’s not what this is about.

This is about a fiercely loyal employee whose dedication for three decades should have won him Employee of the Year every year he’s been with that wacky organization.

For 30 years, Ralph has been the voice of the Clippers.

This is not quite the same as bandleader on the Titanic, but it’s awfully close. Yet Ralph is so fun on the air, he almost makes you want to wait around to see the ship hit the iceberg.

For 26 of those years, with the team usually out of the playoffs, often hopelessly so, Ralph has cheerfully soldiered on, selling snowballs to Eskimos and convincing them they are Sno-Cones. With lime and cherry.

Yes, he had Danny Manning and Elton Brand, but Ralph has also called games for the likes of Benoit Benjamin, Michael Olowakandi, Mike Smrek, Lancaster Gordon and Boniface Ndong. I could go on (and on), but oh me, oh my, typing just those five names exhausted me.

In terms of broadcasting nearly unwatchable pro basketball games, this dynamic but doomed broadcaster has witnessed more carnage than the NTSA.

This year is no different.

The Clippers have so many guys hurt, and so few healthy bodies available now, Ralph may have to suit up, like he did back in the day in Peoria, and give them 10 good minutes at shooting guard. With a running hook, the one he deftly avoids bringing out for his luckless band of losers.

Here in year 30, the only thing the Clippers have to realistically look forward to is tanking ALL their games so they can get the best Ping Pong ball in the NBA lottery. Right now, playing for the Clips is such anathema to their new ‘star’ Baron Davis, I think Baron and his bruised tailbone are trying to hide in the training room until around April 20th when the season’s over and it’s safe to come out.

Even so, every game, every broadcast, you’ll hear and see Ralph, telling it like it is to the full extent his job allows, yet believing in the Clippers, calling the action with the kind of gusto and enthusiasm that almost makes you think they are actually a real NBA team and that the outcome truly matters.

It’s fitting, and I’m glad, that for all the general managers and coaches Donald Sterling has sent on their merry way over lo these many long seasons, he has stayed loyal to Ralph because Ralph stayed loyal to the Clippers.

And I mean loyal as the Labrador that sleeps at your feet.

Tuesday in Dallas, it’s the Clippers, 8-25 or 8-85, I forget which, on the road against the Mavericks, who will try not to laugh when they see two or maybe three healthy bodies on the Clipper bench.

But Ralph will be there, too, as he always is ... with a stat, a quip and a comeback for his charming partner, Mike Smith ... two pros selling encyclopedias door to door when no one reads anymore.

Still, because he’s Ralph, out of respect for his loyalty and longevity, I will fasten my seatbelt, at least for the first couple of possessions.

Bingo.

-- Ted Green

Ted Green is Senior Sports Producer for KTLA Prime News. KTLA carries 30 Clipper games this season and Ralph will do every one, with no regrets.